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Richter Astoria
Richter Astoria is a Rowans Academy student and one of the campaign's principal characters. He is an Earth-born sorcerer, born and raised in Portland, Oregon to a non-magic family. Richter was the victim of a series of possessions by Joseph Burke (aka Ahriman). Exiled from Entia by means of a killing curse, Burke possessed Richter with an amulet in his sleep and used him as a means to track down and try to obtain the relics of the Night King. Explosive traps in a relic chamber hidden behind the waterfalls of Equia caused the amulet to shatter, releasing Richter from his possession. He awoke on the shores near the falls, where he was discovered and after a few confusing days was brought to Rowans Academy for enrollment. Richter was sorted into House Taurenheart, where he resides with many fellow members of the Crash and Thrones teams, such as Clay Douglas, Keanu Komoa, and Yui Yamato. Yui, one grade Richter’s senior, was the tour guide for his circle on his first day at Rowans. He quickly became infatuated with her, but was thrown off by talk around the school as to whether or not Yui and Clay were romantically involved. When Yui was captured by goblins under the charge of the Black Witch of Rowans, Richter led the charge to rescue her. This was seen as the early onset of their mutual infatuation, which led to their relationship’s official beginnings at the Yule Dance. Richter has demonstrated a great interest and proficiency in the area of demonology. In his first year, he was able to successfully fight off a possession from a spirit named Melisand in Professor Kahn’s class, an incredibly rare feat for an inexperienced sorcerer. Since then, Melisand has been bound in loyalty to Richter as per the laws of spiritual possession. Richter has studied heavily outside of class with the help of Professor Kahn, and as such is proficient in banishment spells, breaking enchantments, conjuring magic circles, and dispelling, on top of having a great knowledge of spells that combat the undead (specifically healing spells). Richter is a Weapon Caster, an extremely rare occurrence in Etnia. He is one of only three known living Weapon Casters in the realm, along with Chen Taurenheart and a mysterious Weapon Caster at the Leblanc Academy. His primary implement is the Sword of Gryphon Knights, famously used by Chen Taurenheart in the Spirit Wars. During the summer after his first year, while training at Chen’s flying naval academy, Richter was given the Aegis, a shield capable of deflecting spells. After the Time Travel mini-arc, Richter was handed down the implements of the Centaur champion Maximus, the Staff of Light and the Sun Shield. The Staff of Light has the ability to magically transform itself into any weapon, while the Sun Shield can block spells and has the ability to blind targets within a 30-foot radius. - In order to resurrect Eladin from his 600-year stasis, Richter struck a deal with the powerful demon Ifrit, contractually bonding Ifrit’s spirit to his for four years. The contract can only be broken if Richter can successfully capture Ahriman and bring him to Ifrit. As a result of their bond, Richter has been gifted with arcane sight, and ability that alters his vision causing him to see magical auras in the world around him. He can also rebuke weak some undead creatures (primarily zombies), bending them to do his will. Ifrit telepathically communicates with Richter, like a constant voice in the back of his head. Other side effects of the bond include headaches caused by exposure to Rowans berries, rashes caused by touching unmixed salt, and burning sensations caused by exposure to holy water. During the Battle of the Spire, Richter engaged in combat with the Redface Faun, who shares a full-blown spiritual link with Ifrit. Upon seeing the him, Richter was able to view the moment the Faun was possessed. Just as Richter was about to kill the Faun, Ifrit forced Richter to spare his life by threatening him with mental images of Yui being tortured and killed in the Hellmouth. After the victory at the Spire, Richter was inducted into the Gryphon Knights by Chen Taurenheart. Once knighted, he was gifted the armor of Gryphon Knights and his very own gryphon, the steed of the order, which he shall train at Rowans with the help of Ulfric, the school's zookeeper. Richter is set to finish his education at Rowans as schedules, while spending summers training at Chen's flying naval academy with the promise of making squad leader by the time he graduates. He is the youngest ever inducted member of the Gryphon Knights, as well as the only Weapon Caster in the order aside from Chen. The idea of achieving greatness and going down in history as a hero has often struck a chord with Richter. Being something of a misfit from a lower-class family back on Earth, growing up to defy his prescribed circumstances never really felt like part of the equation to him. Being thrusted into Etnia opened up a new world of possibilities for Richter to achieve his full potential and aspire to the greatness he always knew he was meant to achieve. Richter is currently the only member of his circle without his own hatched familiar. He has been working tediously on incubating his phoenix egg to his preferred specifications and hopes for it to hatch soon.